Times Higher Education rankings editor Phil Baty said the UK's drop-off comes as Asian universities move up in the rankings and questioned whether funding cuts have contributed.

He said: "The UK will have to ensure that it can still draw in talent and investment from across the world and it does not lose its position at the heart of higher education's global elite."

Mr Baty said six universities, four from America as well as Oxford and Cambridge, have dominated the top half of the rankings for the past five years, but added that other countries are making gains.

He said: "Outside this tiny super group, the global higher education world is changing, and some leading lights in the US and UK, for example, household names, have lost ground, while universities in China, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea are all making progress. We now have a Chinese university in the world top 20 for the first time, and another right behind it in the top 30."